Category Archives: Summer 2013

More than ever before, today’s business students are graduating into a global economy. In addition to the challenges of technology and the global movement of goods and services, students must also be able to work – sometimes virtually, sometimes face-to-face – with persons from a variety of cultures, languages, and political/economic systems. What are the skills required for business students to be successful in such an environment? Learn how the UI Tippie College of Business is addressing these needs, both now and in the future.

Dean Gardial, a native of Hot Springs, Ark., earned a BS in Business Administration and an MBA in Marketing from the University of Arkansas. She earned a PhD in Marketing from the University of Houston.

Dean Gardial is trying to instill in her students a global mindset. Twenty-two percent of the UI Tippie College of Business undergraduate students are from non-U.S. countries, with most from China, Malaysia, and India. Such international students clearly benefit from education and immersion in U.S. culture, but she is trying to help U.S. students benefit from international students as well. Dean Sarah Gardial enjoys her free time. She is a huge rock ‘n’ roll fan; some of her favorite singers are Joan Jett and Stevie Nicks. She was once lead singer of a rock ‘n’ roll outfit, Air Supply Chain. She also loves to explore new parts of the country on her motorcycle.

North Korea is a mysterious, occasionally threatening country to the outside world, to its neighbors and even to its primary economic supporter, China. The extent of China’s support for North Korea and the cause of North Korea’s dependence on China will be reviewed. The effectiveness of economic sanctions led by South Korea, Japan and the United States for resolving the nuclear threats will be discussed.

Fittingly, in this photo, Professor Jeongsik Ko is shown near the border between South and North Korea. In the course of his academic and trade studies he has visited North Korea several times. Professor Ko is a veteran negotiator for the singular Kaesong Industrial Zone, a North Korean border city where more than 125 South Korean companies employ over 55,000 North Koreans.

In addition to his faculty position at Pai Chai University in Daejeon, South Korea, Dr. Ko is currently a Visiting Scholar at the University of Iowa’s Center for Asia and Pacific Studies. He has enjoyed serving in a number of economic and trade associations within China and Korea and previously served within the Korean Ministry of Unification. He has published several books and papers on the Chinese economic system, foreign investment and commerce’s role to resolve conflicts. He first came to Iowa twenty-two years ago and we are pleased to welcome his presentation.